BW’s Morning Article Link: Robotech Returns To Comics

Robotech (TV series) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You may have seen my friend Sean in the comments gushing over Titan Comics getting the Robotech license. There hasn’t been much to say about it so I haven’t mentioned it in a main article. Well, Previews has an interview with Brian Wood, the writer for the upcoming comic. I have to admit, when he talks about “modernizing” the first war and knowing what that’s meant for other properties as of late, I’m a little concerned, but still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until I get more details.

Brian Wood is an excellent writer. He is well known for doing an outstanding job with Northlanders, which was about the American Revolution in Vermont and upstate New York. I’m aware of that comic series from having learned about it in online interviews and previews in 2015 and also skimming through some issues in my local comic shop (although never actually purchasing them). Even so, I was very impressed with what I saw as to the historical accuracy in those Revolutionary War comics. Brian is like you and me, Tronix…..he was an 80s kid who watched Robotech just like we did except he did so in the wilds of Vermont. Vermont is a much more rural state, so it must have been very challenging for him to get Comico’s Robotech comics and the Art of Robotech book. It sounds like Wood is a dedicated Robotech fan, so I have confidence in him along with what I know about his Northlanders series. He mentioned about “modernizing” Robotech along the lines of how the current Star Trek movies are a modernized version of the original Star Trek. Then let me ask this: what do you think of the recent Star Trek movies of the past few years?

Also, what possibly scares you about Wood’s “modernizing ” of Robotech: Macross?

Do you have any of the Comico Robotech: New Generation comics? Titan does plan to reprint the original Comico Robotech comics from Macross, Masters, and New Generation after this new original series kicks off more.

Actually, the first time I saw a Robotech comic was on vacation in Vermont, on a spinner rack at the convenience store near the motel we stayed at (and it was a New Generation, the episode with Wolfe), so it’s possible he saw it there. As far as an issue with “modernize”, it’s just the history of other properties changing what I loved about the original to something darker and more cynical. It might be good (remember my reviews of IDW MASK–good stories but lacking the nostalgia factor I wanted in favor of something so removed from the source it could have been Vor-Tek) but that doesn’t mean it’s what I want when I see the name of something I grew up with.

And saying he’s an 80s kid doesn’t immediately disqualify him unfortunately because I’ve seen that for years. “I was a huge fan growing up and I’m so happy to put my stamp on it!” And then the final product doesn’t bear that out. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen here, but I remain on guard for it.

I do hear what your’e saying in terms of your concerns. Even so, due to my having looked at Wood’s Northlanders comic series about the American Revolution, I feel fairly confident that he will provide us a Robotech comic story that we both will be satisfied with. But we won’t fully know if that’s the case until Issue #1 arrives in late July.